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Gadsden teachers learn to integrate technology in class

Published: Tuesday, July 30, 2013 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, July 30, 2013 at 11:17 p.m.

Gadsden City Schools has been beefing up the technology inside the classroom, and Tuesday, teachers learned how to better integrate that technology into their teaching.

Teachers from the elementary and secondary levels familiarized themselves with iPads and apps they will be using in the fall. Superintendent Ed Miller said training like this is vital to the classroom because in five years, textbooks will be entirely digital.

“It’s not something you need to learn because it’s unique,” Miller said. “It is a necessary tool for what you are doing.”

A lot of the training focused on apps the teachers could use as teaching aids, similar to Microsoft PowerPoint but with more interactivity. The apps allow teachers to give out and receive assignments from students, and the unique platform of an iPad or any tablet allows students to do something as small as worksheets using one.

The biggest challenge facing the students will not be what they use the iPads for in the classroom but actually getting them set up. To allow for this, teachers will need to make sure both they and the students are familiar with how the apps will work before any new curriculum is added into the mix.

One app, Quizlet, will help students study either by flash cards or through a matching game. It allows teachers to push out study guides and allows students to search through other teachers’ study guides.

The only downfall is the other guides could be irrelevant or, worse, incorrect.

NearPod has a similar function but with more wrinkles. Much of it functions like PowerPoint, and teachers can import presentations into the app, meaning they don’t have to re-create things they already have spent time and effort making.

Sharon Malone, a sixth-grade language arts teacher at Emma Sansom Middle School, said while those apps are helpful, she is hoping she will find one that is better tailored to her students’ needs.

She believes the iPads will help her manage her classroom better.

One of the biggest problems Malone deals with is students who do not come prepared to class. When those students swear up and down that the assignment they are supposed to have is in their locker, it takes 15 minutes out of her 52-minute class to send them to get it.

Many times, those students come back empty-handed.

Technology Specialist Michelle Monk was part of the iPad pilot program at Thompson Elementary School, and she said she saw those tablets increase classroom engagement tremendously and cut down on the problems Malone sees in her classroom.

She said she used the iPads for everything, from quizzes and notes to long-form stories, and the students ate it up.

“I got to where I put (games and movies) in as an incentive,” Monk said. “If they go too fast to get to it, I tell them to stop, go back and do it right.”

She said the elementary and middle school students will have more technology furnished to them, while the high school students will operate more on the new Bring Your Own Device program. Monk said one of the biggest things technology can do is transform the way things are taught, from lecturing to making the student a larger part of their education.

“We can move from lectures to being facilitators that let the student take more control over their learning,” Monk said.

<p>Gadsden City Schools has been beefing up the technology inside the classroom, and Tuesday, teachers learned how to better integrate that technology into their teaching.</p><p>Teachers from the elementary and secondary levels familiarized themselves with iPads and apps they will be using in the fall. Superintendent Ed Miller said training like this is vital to the classroom because in five years, textbooks will be entirely digital.</p><p>“It's not something you need to learn because it's unique,” Miller said. “It is a necessary tool for what you are doing.”</p><p>A lot of the training focused on apps the teachers could use as teaching aids, similar to Microsoft PowerPoint but with more interactivity. The apps allow teachers to give out and receive assignments from students, and the unique platform of an iPad or any tablet allows students to do something as small as worksheets using one.</p><p>The biggest challenge facing the students will not be what they use the iPads for in the classroom but actually getting them set up. To allow for this, teachers will need to make sure both they and the students are familiar with how the apps will work before any new curriculum is added into the mix.</p><p>One app, Quizlet, will help students study either by flash cards or through a matching game. It allows teachers to push out study guides and allows students to search through other teachers' study guides. </p><p>The only downfall is the other guides could be irrelevant or, worse, incorrect.</p><p>NearPod has a similar function but with more wrinkles. Much of it functions like PowerPoint, and teachers can import presentations into the app, meaning they don't have to re-create things they already have spent time and effort making. </p><p>Sharon Malone, a sixth-grade language arts teacher at Emma Sansom Middle School, said while those apps are helpful, she is hoping she will find one that is better tailored to her students' needs. </p><p>She believes the iPads will help her manage her classroom better. </p><p>One of the biggest problems Malone deals with is students who do not come prepared to class. When those students swear up and down that the assignment they are supposed to have is in their locker, it takes 15 minutes out of her 52-minute class to send them to get it. </p><p>Many times, those students come back empty-handed.</p><p>Technology Specialist Michelle Monk was part of the iPad pilot program at Thompson Elementary School, and she said she saw those tablets increase classroom engagement tremendously and cut down on the problems Malone sees in her classroom. </p><p>She said she used the iPads for everything, from quizzes and notes to long-form stories, and the students ate it up.</p><p>“I got to where I put (games and movies) in as an incentive,” Monk said. “If they go too fast to get to it, I tell them to stop, go back and do it right.”</p><p>She said the elementary and middle school students will have more technology furnished to them, while the high school students will operate more on the new Bring Your Own Device program. Monk said one of the biggest things technology can do is transform the way things are taught, from lecturing to making the student a larger part of their education.</p><p>“We can move from lectures to being facilitators that let the student take more control over their learning,” Monk said.</p>